(WJBK) - Attorney Geoffrey Fieger announced Wednesday another client has filed a second sexual assault lawsuit against attorney Mike Morse -- this time by Morse's former employee.
Fieger says he's filed another lawsuit in a series of sexual harassment suits against Morse.
Last week, Fieger announced he filed the first lawsuit against Morse for $10 million, alleging the victim was sexually assaulted at Steven Lelli's On the Green this past April.
SEE ALSO:
- Morse denies sex assault allegation in $10M lawsuit by Fieger client
- Attorney Mike Morse sued by client of Geoffrey Fieger for alleged sexual assault
- New Fieger motion claims Morse made other unwanted sexual advances to women
This second lawsuit for $15 million was filed on behalf of Morse's former employee.
According to the lawsuit, plaintiff Samantha Lichon, a former receptionist at the Mike Morse Law Firm, says Morse made unwanted sexual advances on her -- both verbally and physically.
"The harassment included frequent and unwelcome comments and conduct of an offensive and sexual nature," the document states.
It goes on to allege Morse sexually assaulted the plaintiff by groping her breasts, touching his groin to her rear, and wrapping his arms around her on various occasions. The document also details lewd statements Morse allegedly said to the plaintiff. It says that the statements and the physical touching was done without permission or invitation on the law firm's premises.
Morse issued a statement on the second lawsuit:
"The individual was employed as a receptionist for about 18 months until she was terminated for cause on April 7, 2017. She never made a complaint during the time she was employed at my firm.
I employ approximately 145 people, about half of whom are women. I have been in business for two decades and I have never been sued. I am not going to continue to participate in Mr. Fieger's media circus, or his bid to attract more attention to himself and encourage baseless lawsuits. These matters will be handled in Court."
Lichon says she complained to the law firm as well as human resources, but no action was taken and the harassment continued. The document says Morse invited Lichon to his hotel room in December of 2015.
She maintains she was unresponsive to the sexual advances and was fired February 17, 2017, the suit states.
The suit says on May 15, she was contacted by Mike Morse Law Firm attorney Derek Brackson, who "pressured and/or coerced and/or intimidated and/or attempted to persuade" Lichon against taking action.
The first lawsuit claims Morse asked the female plaintiff to go to a back room where she might want to take a selfie with him, He allegedly held the plaintiff's phone to take a selfie and without her permission grabbed the woman's breast and asked her if this would make the photo better.
Fieger says Morse and the restaurant owner to made several attempts to convince his client against speaking to police. He says his client got a confession on tape when she attended a meeting with Morse about the issue -- wired by the Farmington Hills Police Department.
After news of the lawsuit broke, Morse held a press conference to deny the allegations.
"I am standing here to tell you there is no truth to these allegations," he said. "There are multiple witnesses who were present at the time who observed that I did not touch this woman as alleged.
"This lawsuit is complete and utter nonsense. I will vigorously defend myself against these false claims."
Morse claims the plaintiff approached him to take a selfie at Steven Lelli's on the Green. He contends there is a personal element involved in the allegation.
"This lawsuit is a bogus, manufactured lawsuit in an attempt to extort money from me by the Fieger law firm," Morse said Monday. "Mr. Fieger has said he's angry with me because a former client fired him and hired me and we settled that case for several million dollars.
"There's a history of Mr. Fieger attempting to disparage me through his commercials and blog posts. This is also a pathetic attempt to harm my reputation, something the Fieger law firm stands to benefit from."
This second lawsuit was assigned to Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Shalina Kumar.
FOX 2 will continue to follow the story.